Accelerator for a vehicle toy

ABSTRACT

This is an action toy wherein small, unpowered vehicles are adapted to coast along miniature roadway and wherein vehicle propulsion means is disposed adjacent the roadway and engages and accelerates the vehicles therealong.

United States Patent Sims et al.

ACCELERATOR FOR A VEHICLE TOY Anson Sims, Redondo Beach; Edwin 0. Stastny, Santa Ana; Janos Beny, Manhattan Beach, all of Calif.

Mattel, Inc., Hawthorne, Calif.

Apr. 2, 1971 BMW Related US. Application Data Continuation of Ser. No. 752,232, Aug. 13, 1968, abandoned.

Inventors:

Assignee:

Filed;

\ppl N US. Cl. ..46/243 LV, 46/202 Int. Cl. ..A63h 29/22 Field of Search ..46/202, 243 LV References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 11/1916 Marty ..124/6 [4 1 Feb. 15, 1972 l'nmmv Examiner 1 mm: (3 Mame/w Assistant Examiner Robert F. Cutting Att0rneySeymour A. Scholnick [5 7] ABSTRACT This is an action toy wherein small, unpowered vehicles are adapted to coast along miniature roadway and wherein vehicle propulsion means is disposed adjacent the roadway and engages and accelerates the vehicles therealong.

26 Claims, 10 Drawing Figures PATENTEUFEB 15 I972 SHEET 1 0F 4 Asa/1417a;

Away {0 [aw/M dfrlxrw Jaw; Jaw

JI WQ. 477024 67 PATENTEDFEB 15 I972 SHEET 2 BF 4 .J u nbhl W/7 Aw! raft fl; 4 Xrdxrw/ Ill/w: JIM) BV/W 4 644 iATENTEUFEB 15 m2 SHEET 3 OF 4 f 7 W m m a Zn a e xv W 1 5% J 7 W ACCELERATOR FOR A VEHICLE TOY This application is a continuation of application, Ser. No. 752,232 filed Aug. 13, 1968, now abandoned.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The background of the invention will be set forth in two parts.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention pertains generally to the field of toy vehicles and tracks of roadways upon which they travel and more particularly to a novel technique to accelerate unpowered vehicles along a track or roadway.

2. Description of the Prior Art Toy unpowered vehicles are well known in the art. Generally, these vehicles, for example, are either adapted to be pushed along a horizontal surface such as a floor and on the ground or they are designed to follow a track or roadway and caused to accelerate therealong through the force of gravity by elevating a portion of the roadway. There are certain obvious disadvantages to these prior art toys utilizing unpowered vehicles. In the first example above, there is provided no means to control the direction of travel of the vehicles and requires a manual motivating force by the user such as by simply pushing. In the second example, the roadway must be provided with an elevated portion and after each run, the vehicle must be manually replaced at the top of the elevated roadway.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the foregoing factors and conditions characteristic of unpowered vehicle toys, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide a new and improved unpowered vehicle toy not subject to the disadvantages enumerated above and having a track or roadway for guiding unpowered toy vehicles, adjacent which roadway is disposed propulsion means for engaging and accelerating these vehicles along the track.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an unpowered vehicle toy that does not require a portion ofa roadway upon which the vehicle travels to be elevated and which provides an acceleration force on the vehicle independently of the force of gravity.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide an unpowered vehicle toy of the type described wherein the accelerating means is manually cocked and triggered and wherein the vehicle is engaged by the accelerating means for that portion of travel of the vehicle along the track that the accelerating force is applied.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide an unpowered vehicle toy wherein vehicles of varying sizes and weights may be accelerated along a track or roadway.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an unpowered vehicle toy wherein the vehicles are accelerated by propulsion means along a track in a stable condition so that energy is not wasted in friction between the vehicle's tires and the side portion of the track and reduces the chance of having the vehicles leaving the track due to instability.

It is still a further object of the invention to provide an unpowered vehicle toy wherein the propulsion means may be operated in three modes: (1) automatic triggering, (2) manual triggering, and (3) no triggering.

It is yet a further object of the invention to provide an unpowered vehicle toy wherein the propulsion means that engages and accelerates the vehicles along a roadway may be manually adjusted with respect to the force exerted in order to introduce the element of skill into the operation of the toy.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an unpowered vehicle toy that may utilize an accelerating means taking the form of a single or multilevel interchange.

According to the present invention, a vehicle propulsion means is disposed adjacent to a track means that guides unpowered toy vehicles along a predetermined path of travel for engaging and accelerating the vehicles along the path.

The propulsion means may include gripping members that engage opposite sides of the vehicles with substantially equal force in order to accommodate vehicles of differing dimensions and weights and in order to cause acceleration of the vehicles in a stable condition.

A manual cocking bolt-action type propulsion unit may be used that has two pressure arms, each on opposite sides of the track means, that are continuously biased toward each other and both are also biased equally in the direction of vehicle travel by the manual cocking of the unit. Upon release or triggering of this propulsion unit, the bias in the direction of travel forces the arms to move a predetermined distance along the sides of the track at the end of which movement the arms are forced to move a predetermined distance along the sides of the track at the end of which movement the arms are forced apart a sufficient amount to release a vehicle therebetween.

The manual propulsion unit may be triggered either manually by a trip-lever, for example, or automatically by a vehicle-actuated trip wire.

An electric motor actuated propulsion unit may also be used as the vehicle propulsion means of the invention. In one form, two commonly geared counterrotating drums or wheels having resilient outer rims to engage toy vehicles therebetween are caused to rotate by an electric drive motor. The drums are disposed each on opposite sides of a roadway upon which the toy vehicles travel so that substantially equal pressure is exerted on opposite sides of the vehicles in order that a stable condition of release is provided.

The electric drive motor may be connected to a source of current through a speed control unit that is adapted to be manually adjusted by an operator in order that an element of skill is introduced in the toy.

The features of the present invention which are believed to be novel are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The invention and specific embodiments thereof will be described hereinafter by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein like reference numerals refer to like elements or parts.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an unpowered vehicle toy of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged, cross-sectional perspective view of a portion of the track or roadway taken along line 22 of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of a manually actuated propulsion unit shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a side elevational view of the manually actuated propulsion unit shown in FIG. 3 taken along line 4-4 thereof;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged, cross-sectional view taken along line 55 of FIG. 3;

FIG, 6 is an enlarged, cross-sectional view taken along line 66 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged, cross-sectional view taken along line 77 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 8 is a top plan view of an electrical motor driven propulsion unit according to another embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 9-9 of FIG. 8; and

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a multilevel interchange according to still another embodiment of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring again to the drawings, and more particularly to FIGS. 1-7, an unpowered vehicle toy constituting a first embodiment of the present invention, generally designated 11, includes a tack or roadway 13 to guide unpowered toy vehicles (not shown) along a predetermined endless course or path. The roadway 13 as here shown has a first straightaway l5 and a second straightaway 17 parallel to the first with curved opposite end sections 19 and 21 connecting the two.

Along the first straightaway is disposed a manually operated vehicle propulsion unit generally designated by reference numeral 23. This unit, as can be seen, is disposed adjacent the roadway 13 and includes side gripping members 25 and 27, a slotted housing structure 29, a manual cocking lever 31, and a vehicle-actuated trip wire 33. Thus when, as will be described in more detail later, the cocking lever 31 is manually pulled into the position shown against the force of a spring and a toy vehicle (not shown) on the roadway 13 moves the trip wire 33, the two side gripping members 25 and 27 are caused to engage and grip with equal force opposite sides of the vehicle and immediately move in the direction of vehicle travel to thereby accelerate the unpowered vehicle along the roadway 13. At the end of travel of the side gripping members, these devices are caused to separate simultaneously and thereby disengage from the vehicle and thus propel it in a stable condition.

In order to prevent undue frictional force being introduced and to assure that the toy vehicles do not leave the track, the end sections 19 and 21 of the roadway 13 are banked in a manner similar to banked tracks used in full-sized auto raceways. An enlarged sectional view of such a banked end section taken along line 2-2 of FIG. 1 is shown in FIG. 2. Here, it can be seen that the roadway 13 is banked and is also elevated by an end wall 35 so that further acceleration will take place when the vehicle travels down that portion of the end section 19 joining the second straightaway 17. A similar operation occurs on the other end section 21. This figure further provides a more detailed view of the construction of the roadway 13 by showing an outer side wall 37 and an inner side wall 39 that restrain the toy vehicles from leaving the roadway 13.

Referring now to FIG. 3, a top plan view of the vehicle propulsion unit 23 is shown in more detail. This figure and FIGS. 4, 5, 6 and 7 can preferably be viewed together so that a clear understanding of this structure may be obtained. The unit 23 comprises generally the slotted housing structure 29 with a base 41 and a perpendicular slotted side member 43. The side member 43 includes a longitudinal slot 45 in which the manual cocking member 31, restrained from transverse movement by dowel guides 47, is adapted to move.

The cocking member 31 has a pin 49 affixed to its inner portion and a rigid cocking arm 51 is pivotally attached thereto and maintained thereon by conventional restraining washers or nuts 53. The arm 51 is, at its other end, pivotally connected to the upper portion of a sliding pin 55 that is adapted to move transversely with respect to it longitudinal axis along a slot 57 in an intermediate guide plate 59. This intermediate plate is positioned between the roadway 13 and the base 41 by end portions 61 and 63 of the propulsion unit 23 (see FIG. 4). The sliding pin 55 is provided with a bias force by means ofa helical spring 65 attached at one end thereof to the lower section of the sliding pin 55 and at its other end to a spring tie post 67 attached in a fixed position between the intermediate plate 59 and the base 41 adjacent the end portion 63. The sliding pin 55 is restrained from moving vertically by guides 69 fixed to the pin 55 on each side of the intermediate plate 59.

Two rigid diagonally disposed arms 71 and 73 are also swivelly attached at one of their ends to the sliding pin 55, at its uppermost portion. The other ends of these arms are in turn swivelly attached to the bottom portion of vertical posts 75 and 77, as can be seen in FIG. 5, may include reduced diameter lower portions 79 and 81 and head ends 83 and 85, respectively. Also disposed about the reduced diameter portions of the posts 75 and 77 are, respectively, cam follower elements 87 and 89 that follow cam surfaces 91 and 93 at the sides of the roadway 13 at the vehicle propulsion unit 23. And between the head portions 83 and 85 of the posts 75 and 77 and the cam follower elements are swivelly mounted a second set of rigid diagonal arms 95 and 97.

The second set of diagonally disposed rigid arms 95 and 97 are swivelly connected to a latching pin 99 that, like sliding pin 55, is adapted to slide transversely to its longitudinal axis in the slot 57 and restrained from vertical or longitudinal movement by fixed restraining washers or guides 101. The latching pin 99 may be held against the bias force of the helical spring 65 as applied through the sliding pin 55 and the rigid arms 71, 73, and 97 by a bell crank latching member 103 that swivels about a pivot 105. The latching member itself is biased by a relatively weak spring 107 in a manner to bias a hooklike end portion 109 of the latching member 103 toward and against the latching pin 99 when it has been moved to that position by the manual placement of the cocking member 31 in its extreme leftward position, as indicated by a directional arrow 111. The other end of the spring 107 is anchored by conventional means to any convenient point 113 on the adjacent structure such as the bottom face of the intermediate plate 59. The amount of rotation of the latching member 103 is restricted by a stop dog or post 115 so that as the latching pin 99 is moved to the left as indicated by dashed marking 11'! and arrows 119 toward the position as shown in FIG. 7, an outer surface 121 of the latch end portion 109 is moved in the direction indicated by arrow 123 against the bias force of the spring 107 (see dashed outline 125 of the latch member 103). This latch member also has a trip surface 127 adjacent to the positioning of a portion of the trip wire 33 so that a downward movement of the upper portion of the trip wire 33 as shown by dashed lines 129 is translated to a bending motion as indicated by dashed lines 131 of FIG. 4 to push the latch 103 away from and thus release the latching pin 99 to travel in the direction shown by arrow 133 in FIG. 7.

In operation, the propulsion unit 23 is first cocked by manually moving the manual cocking member 31 against the bias of the helical spring 65 in the direction of arrow 111 until the latching member 103 is moved and then holds by its hooklike end portion 109 the latching pin 99. An unpowered toy vehicle (dashed outline 135, FIGS. 5 and 6) may then be introduced along the roadway 13 until it depresses the trip wire 33 as seen in FIG. 5 to release the latching pin 99. Once released, the latching pin 99 no longer restrains the pull of the helical spring 65 through the rigid diagonal arms and the sliding pin 55, and all these elements are pulled, along with the posts and associated side gripping members 25 and 27, in the direction of vehicle travel and the force of the spring 65.

The forces on the rigid arms 71, 73, 95 and 97 provided generally by the spring 65 tend to cause the cam followers 87 and 89 to ride on the cam surfaces 91 and 93 of the roadway 13. Thus, as can be clearly seen in FIG. 3, as the vehicle 135 trips the trip wire 33, the gripping members 25 and 27 move equally in the direction shown by arrows 137 in FIG. 5 due to the lessening of the width of the roadway at the left side of the cam surface 91 and resilient gripping surfaces 139 and 141 of a synthetic or rubber material mounted on the side gripping members 25 and 27 engage and hold the vehicle and carry it in the desired direction and thereby impart on it an accelerating force.

This accelerating force is applied to the vehicle 135 until the width of the roadway 13 again widens at the right end of the cam surfaces 91 and 93 to cause the cam followers 87 and 89 to move the posts 75 and 77 and their associated side gripping members 25 and 27 away from and thus release the vehicle 135, as indicated by arrows 143. Since the vehicle 135 is released simultaneously by both side gripping members, the vehicle leaves the vehicle propulsion unit 23 in a stable condition and is thus less likely to catapult off the roadway, Of course, the side gripping members and all the cooperating elements therewith come to a stop at the end of the slot 57 in the intermediate plate 59 either by the compression action of the elliptical spring 65 and/or the impact of the sliding pin 55 on the end of the slot 57 adjacent the end portion 63. The mechanism is then again ready to be manually cocked for repeated use.

The various parts of the roadway and propulsion mechanism above described may be fabricated from any suitable material and there is no critical criterion to be followed. For examples, many parts may be fabricated from plastics such as the roadway 13 and the slotted housing structure 29 including the slotted intermediate plate 59, but the pieces of the mechanism obviously requiring metallic strength and endurance qualities such as the various pins, posts, rigid arm, and the like should preferably be of a suitable metal.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, as seen in FIGS. 8 and 9, am electrically powered vehicle propulsion unit 201 may be substituted for the manually operated unit 23. Basically, the propulsion unit 201 as shown includes a propulsion housing structure 203 having a base 205, a top 207, an outer side member 209, an inner side member 211, an entry end member 213 and an exit end member 215. The last-mentioned members have a corresponding entrance port 217 and exit port in order to allow a section of the roadway 13 to pass through the structure 203.

Within the propulsion housing structure 203 is disposed an electric motor 221 which drives a conventional motor drive gear 223 through a motor shaft 225. The motor 221 is shown mounted for convenience between a motor housing bracket 227 and the base 205 of the structure 203. A battery source of power for the motor 221 may be supplied through power leads 229 by batteries such as the two cells 231 and 233 illustrated in FIG. 8. These batteries may be connected in series as shown or they may be used in parallel, depending on the voltage and current required to operate the motor 221. Of course, a single battery of proper characteristics could be substituted for the batteries shown and a separate power supply of any description may be utilized. A slide switch 235 is connected in series between the motor and the batteries as an on-off control and a rheostat 237 may also be so connected in order to enable an operator to adjust the speed of the motor to any desired value as will be described later.

Also included within the housing structure 203 is a first drum 239 and a similarly constructed second drum 239. Each of the drums comprise a lower drum shaft 243 rotatably mounted in a base bearing aperture 245 in the base 205, a circular bottom section 247, a lower intermediate circular section 249, an upper intermediate circular section 251, and upper circular section 253 and an upper drum shaft 255 rotatably mounted in a top bearing aperture 257 in the top 207. Between the upper intermediate sections 251 and the upper sections 253 of the first and second drums 239 and 239' are mounted identical relatively large diameter gears 259 and 259', respectively, that mesh together therebetween so that the rotation of one drum equally rotates the other.

In order to engage and cause acceleration of an unpowered toy vehicle such as a toy car 261 coasting along or placed on the roadway 13 adjacent the drums 239 and 239, relatively deep annular sections or tires 263 and 263' of resilient material are resilient material are respectively mounted about the lower intermediate circular sections 249 and 249' of the drums 239 and 239. The tires should preferably be fabricated from a material that is wear resistant, has relatively high density and a relatively high coefficient of friction such as a neoprene rubber, for example. These tires are also advantageously designed to have a relatively large outer diameter in order to provide more surface area in contact with vehicles engaged thereby so that a better gripping surface to minimize slippage during acceleration is presented. Of course, the thickness of the tires allows for the ability to effectively en gage and accelerate toy vehicles of varying widths.

As can be seen from the directional arrows adjacent the drums 239 and 239, the vehicle gripping tires 263 and 263 respectively rotate in opposite directions. This is necessary in order to place equal gripping and acceleration forces in both magnitude and direction on the vehicle to be accelerated. In this manner, a very rapid and nearly instantaneous push can be exerted to vehicles of various sizes and weights. For example, when a vehicle such as the toy car 161 moves along the roadway 13 to a position as shown in FIG. 8, the counterrotating resilient tires 263 and 263 (driven by the motor 221 through engagement of its drive gear 223 with one of the drum gears 259) grip the sides of the car with equal radial and rotational forces; accelerate it; and release it in a stable condition.

The speed that the vehicle attains in this process is of course dependent on the rotation rate of the motor shaft 225 and thus on the particular setting of the rheostat 239. This adjustment therefore provides to the user of this toy a latitude of choice and encourages the acquiring of a degree of skill.

In this embodiment, it will be noted that the drum gears are mounted above the roadway and the roadway is positioned midway between the drums and adjacent the base of the propulsion unit. This configuration allows the vehicle to be accelerated, in the usual base level roadway setup, to a greater degree than would be possible where the roadway is elevated over the meshing drum gears. This is the case because a vehicle so accelerated would tend to travel in a straight line by inertial forces and not follow a declining roadway to the level of the remainder of the track. However, even at these high accelerations the inertial forces may be dealt with by appropriate banked turns in the roadway immediately beyond the acceleration unit.

With reference now to FIG. 10, there is shown still another embodiment of the present invention in the form of a modern expressway or freeway interchange 301. The principle of operation of this system is basically similar to that utilizing the single roadway propulsion unit 201 described above, but further includes additional peripheral gear-driven drums and roadway for each of the two levels. Accordingly, this embodiment includes a first drum 303, a second adjacent drum 305 and a third drum 307 adjacent the second drum 305 on the op posite side thereof from the first drum 303. The axes of rotation of all three drums thus lie in the same plane and are parallel to and equidistant from each other. Similarly, a fourth drum 309, a fifth drum 311 and a sixth drum 313 are all made to lie in a single plane that, in this embodiment, happens to be perpendicular to the first-mentioned plane.

The second and fifth drums are preferably mechanically coupled to each other in a fixed relationship on a common shaft 315 that is in turn rotatably mounted between a base member 317 and a top member 319 supported above the drums by side members 321 and 323. The first and third drums 303 and 307 are also shown mounted between the base and top members 317 and 319 on their respective shafts 325 and 327. The fourth and sixth drums 309 and 313 are similarly mounted on shafts 329 and 331 that are in turn rotatably mounted in appropriate bearing apertures in the base member 317 and separate additional top members 333 and 335, respectively. Of course, in both this embodiment and the previously described embodiment, the drum shafts may be sta tionary and the drums rotatably mounted thereon.

An electric motor 337 powered by batteries 339 through a switch and rheostat, (not shown) is adapted to drive a fourth drum gear 341. The fourth drum gear 341, which when rotated also rotates the fourth drum 309, engages and drives a common drum gear 345 to rotate both the second and fifth drums 305 and 311 in an opposite sense of rotation. Similarly, the common drum gear 345 engages and drives corresponding drum gears 347, 349 and 351 associated with the first, third and sixth drums. Since all drums are driven at their periphery by adjacent drum gears, all adjacent drums will rotate in opposite directions. Thus, by placing suitable sections of roadway between adjacent rotating drums, toy vehicles (not shown) moving along these roadways in appropriate directions will be engaged by resilient tires associated with each of the drums and thereby accelerated in a stable condition in the manner described above with respect to the embodiment of FIGS. 8 and 9.

Again, the materials used in the fabrication of this toy are not considered critical and any material suitable for a particular use may be utilized.

From the foregoing, it will be evident that the invention provides a new and useful toy that propells unpowered toy vehicles of varying weights and sizes in a stable condition along a track or roadwayv Although specific embodiments of the invention has been described in detail, other organizations of the embodiments shown may be made within the spirit and scope of the invention.

Accordingly, it is intended that the foregoing disclosure and drawings shall be considered only as illustrations of the principles of this invention and are not to be construed in a limiting sense, and the scope of this invention is to be defined by the scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. Vehicle propulsion means for accelerating unpowered toy vehicles along a predetermined path of travel, comprising:

a pair of counterrotating drums disposed on opposite sides of said predetermined path of travel and adapted to engage and disengage said vehicles on opposite sides thereof with substantially equal force; and

motor means for rotating said drums at substantially the same speed for accelerating said toy vehicles along said path.

2. Vehicle propulsion means according to claim 1, wherein said drums each carry a resilient tire having an outer gripping surface that engages and carries therewith by frictional forces said unpowered toy vehicles coming in contact therewith, said tires having a depth sufficient to effectively grip the sides of different ones of said vehicles having similar and also different widths.

3. Vehicle propulsion means according to claim 1, wherein each of said drums has attached thereto and concentric therewith a drum gear with radially outwardly extending gear teeth engaging similar gear teeth on an adjacent drum gear.

4. Vehicle propulsion means according to claim 1, including a third drum cooperating with one of said pair of drums and defining a second roadway therebetween angularly disposed with respect to said first roadway.

5. Vehicle propulsion means according to claim 3, wherein said motor means includes a motor drive gear that engages one ofsaid drum gears.

6. Vehicle propulsion means according to claim 3, wherein said drum gears are disposed above said path of travel a distance sufficient to cause no obstruction to the travel of said vehicles.

7. Vehicle propulsion means according to claim 4, wherein said third drum is elevated a predetermined amount and said cooperating drum is of sufficient height to engage said elevated third drum.

8. Vehicle propulsion mans according to claim 7, wherein said angle is 90.

9. An action toy, comprising:

track means for guiding unpowered toy vehicles along a predetermined path of travel; and

vehicle propulsion means disposed adjacent said track means and including motor means for providing potential energy for the acceleration of said toy vehicles, and also including a pair of counterrotating drums given by said motor means, said drums being disposed on. opposite sides of said predetermined path of travel.

10. An action toy according to claim 9 wherein said drums each carry a resilient tire having an outer gripping surface that engages and carries therewith by frictional forces said unpowered toy vehicles coming in contact therewith, said tires having a depth sufficient to effectively grip the sides of different ones of said vehicles having similar and also different widths.

11. An action toy according to claim 9, wherein each of said drums has attached thereto and concentric therewith a drum gear with radially outwardly extending gear teeth engaging similar gear teeth of an adjacent drum gear.

12. An action toy according to claim 9, including a third drum cooperating with one of said pair of drums and defining a second path of travel therebetween angularly disposed with respect to said first path.

13. An action toy according to claim 9, where said motor means includes a motor drive gear that engages one of said drum gears.

14. An action toy according to claim 9, wherein said drum gears are disposed above said path of travel a distance sufficient to cause no obstruction to the travel of said vehicle.

15. An action toy according to claim 9, wherein said third drum and said cooperating drum are elevated a predetermined amount.

16. An action toy according to claim 15, wherein said angle is 1r".

17. an action toy comprising:

track means including roadway structure for guiding toy vehicles along an endless course; and

vehicle propulsion means including a pair of synchronously driven counterrotating drums disposed directly opposite each other on opposite sides of and at a desired position along said roadway structure for temporarily engaging opposite sides of toy vehicles moving along said roadway structure and thereby imparting thereto an accelerating force in the direction of vehicle travel.

18. An action toy according to claim 17, wherein said drums include relatively soft, vehicle engaging, resilient tires.

19. An action toy according to claim 18, wherein said tires are of sufficient thickness to effectively grip toy vehicles of widely varying widths traversing said endless course.

20. An action toy according to claim 18, wherein said vehicle propulsion means also includes identical relatively large gears coupled coaxially to respective ones of said drums, the diameter of said gears being at least as great as the outer diameter of said tires, said gears being positioned to engage each other and being caused to rotate by a single motor-driven pinion gear operatively coupled to one of said gears.

21. An action toy according to claim 20, wherein said gears are positioned above said roadway structure and said drums.

22. An action toy according to claim 20, wherein said gears are positioned below said roadway structure and said drums are positioned above said roadway structure.

23. For use with a track defining a predetermined path of travel for a freely rolling toy wheeled vehicle, the track including a flat running surface and upstanding guide flanges at each edge thereof, apparatus for accelerating a freely rolling toy vehicle along the path comprising:

a pair of counterrotating drums horizontally disposed on opposite sides of the track and adapted to simultaneously engage a freely rolling toy vehicle traveling along the path on opposite sides thereof and impart substantially equivalent forces thereto; and

means for rotating said drums at substantially the same speed whereupon said engagement of the vehicle by said drums, the vehicle will be accelerated along the predetermined path of the track.

24. The apparatus as set forth in claim 23 wherein the outer surface of each said drum is of a resilient and deformable material thereby capable of receiving vehicles with varying configurations and widths and applying an increased frictional grip thereto.

25. The apparatus as set forth in claim 23 further including a frame for mounting and supporting said drums and said rotating means, said frame adapted to be interposed at a desired location along the predetermined path of the track in a manner whereby the path will remain continuous.

26. The apparatus as set forth in claim 25 wherein said frame is adapted to support additional track and drums whereby an over and under track interchange is defined. 

1. Vehicle propulsion means for accelerating unpowered toy vehicles along a predetermined path of travel, comprising: a pair of counterrotating drums disposed on opposite sides of said predetermined path of travel and adapted to engage and disengage said vehicles on opposite sides thereof with substantially equal force; and motor means for rotating said drums at substantially the same speed for accelerating said toy vehicles along said path.
 2. Vehicle propulsion means according to claim 1, wherein said drums each carry a resilient tire having an outer gripping surface that engages and carries therewith by frictional forces said unpowered toy vehicles coming in contact therewith, said tires having a depth sufficient to effectively grip the sides of different ones of said vehicles having similar and also different widths.
 3. Vehicle propulsion means according to claim 1, wherein each of said drums has attached thereto and concentric therewith a drum gear with radially outwardly extending gear teeth engaging similar gear teeth on an adjacent drum gear.
 4. Vehicle propulsion means according to claim 1, including a third drum cooperating with one of said pair of drums and defining a second roadway therebetween angularly disposed with respect to said first roadway.
 5. Vehicle propulsion means according to claim 3, wherein said motor means includes a motor drive gear that engages one of said drum gears.
 6. Vehicle propulsion means according to claim 3, wherein said drum gears are disposed above said path of travel a distance sufficient to cause no obstruction to the travel of said vehicles.
 7. Vehicle propulsion means according to claim 4, wherein said third drum is elevated a predetermined amount and said cooperating drum is of sufficient height to engage said eLevated third drum.
 8. Vehicle propulsion mans according to claim 7, wherein said angle is 90*.
 9. An action toy, comprising: track means for guiding unpowered toy vehicles along a predetermined path of travel; and vehicle propulsion means disposed adjacent said track means and including motor means for providing potential energy for the acceleration of said toy vehicles, and also including a pair of counterrotating drums given by said motor means, said drums being disposed on opposite sides of said predetermined path of travel.
 10. An action toy according to claim 9 wherein said drums each carry a resilient tire having an outer gripping surface that engages and carries therewith by frictional forces said unpowered toy vehicles coming in contact therewith, said tires having a depth sufficient to effectively grip the sides of different ones of said vehicles having similar and also different widths.
 11. An action toy according to claim 9, wherein each of said drums has attached thereto and concentric therewith a drum gear with radially outwardly extending gear teeth engaging similar gear teeth of an adjacent drum gear.
 12. An action toy according to claim 9, including a third drum cooperating with one of said pair of drums and defining a second path of travel therebetween angularly disposed with respect to said first path.
 13. An action toy according to claim 9, where said motor means includes a motor drive gear that engages one of said drum gears.
 14. An action toy according to claim 9, wherein said drum gears are disposed above said path of travel a distance sufficient to cause no obstruction to the travel of said vehicle.
 15. An action toy according to claim 9, wherein said third drum and said cooperating drum are elevated a predetermined amount.
 16. An action toy according to claim 15, wherein said angle is .
 17. an action toy comprising: track means including roadway structure for guiding toy vehicles along an endless course; and vehicle propulsion means including a pair of synchronously driven counterrotating drums disposed directly opposite each other on opposite sides of and at a desired position along said roadway structure for temporarily engaging opposite sides of toy vehicles moving along said roadway structure and thereby imparting thereto an accelerating force in the direction of vehicle travel.
 18. An action toy according to claim 17, wherein said drums include relatively soft, vehicle engaging, resilient tires.
 19. An action toy according to claim 18, wherein said tires are of sufficient thickness to effectively grip toy vehicles of widely varying widths traversing said endless course.
 20. An action toy according to claim 18, wherein said vehicle propulsion means also includes identical relatively large gears coupled coaxially to respective ones of said drums, the diameter of said gears being at least as great as the outer diameter of said tires, said gears being positioned to engage each other and being caused to rotate by a single motor-driven pinion gear operatively coupled to one of said gears.
 21. An action toy according to claim 20, wherein said gears are positioned above said roadway structure and said drums.
 22. An action toy according to claim 20, wherein said gears are positioned below said roadway structure and said drums are positioned above said roadway structure.
 23. For use with a track defining a predetermined path of travel for a freely rolling toy wheeled vehicle, the track including a flat running surface and upstanding guide flanges at each edge thereof, apparatus for accelerating a freely rolling toy vehicle along the path comprising: a pair of counterrotating drums horizontally disposed on opposite sides of the track and adapted to simultaneously engage a freely rolling toy vehicle traveling along the path on opposite sides thereof and impart substantially equivalent forces thereto; and means for rotating said drums at substantially the same speed Whereupon said engagement of the vehicle by said drums, the vehicle will be accelerated along the predetermined path of the track.
 24. The apparatus as set forth in claim 23 wherein the outer surface of each said drum is of a resilient and deformable material thereby capable of receiving vehicles with varying configurations and widths and applying an increased frictional grip thereto.
 25. The apparatus as set forth in claim 23 further including a frame for mounting and supporting said drums and said rotating means, said frame adapted to be interposed at a desired location along the predetermined path of the track in a manner whereby the path will remain continuous.
 26. The apparatus as set forth in claim 25 wherein said frame is adapted to support additional track and drums whereby an over and under track interchange is defined. 